By Susie Whitmore
BRISBANE — As this issue of Green Left Weekly hits the streets, so will thousands of anti-racist high-school students around Queensland. The secondary school walkout and rallies on July 28 will coincide with the first sitting of state parliament since the June 13 election, in which 11 One Nation candidates were elected. The protest action has been called by Resistance.
Last week, the Resistance Centre in Brisbane received telephone calls from students in Gympie, Bundaberg and Rockhampton who are organising walkouts. In the regions of Gympie and Bundaberg, One Nation recorded a relatively high vote on June 13.
More than 1000 students from more than 15 secondary schools in Brisbane are expected to converge on King George Square at 12noon, before marching to parliament house to join a rally.
Queensland premier Peter Beattie has condemned the protest and called on parents to "consider whether it's appropriate that children should be out of school when they should, in fact, be learning".
Resistance member Sarah Cunningham responded: "We're protesting because young people know that racism exists, that's one of the few things we do learn in school." Resistance branch organiser, Ruth Ratcliffe, was quoted in Brisbane's Courier-Mail that, although high-school students couldn't vote, they wanted to voice their concern for their future and their opposition to racism.